UK 13 to 15 Year-Old Girls More Involved in Esports Than Boys

December 6, 2018Written by Janet Garcia

Women’s interest in games and the presence of esports are two things that have existed for a long time and are becoming more mainstream and widespread as time goes on. The Insights People’s Kids Insights division surveyed 5,000 UK kids (under 18) about their gaming and found that 15% of girls watch esports and more 13 to 15 year-old girls participate in and watch esports live than boys of the same age.

Organizations like Girls Make Games continue to encourage young women to not just play games, but make them. Likewise, Overwatch League continues to put esports on a more public stage. It’s clear that gaming will keep becoming more diverse not just in who’s playing games, but in how we’re playing them and consuming gaming related content.

Moreover, 84% of teen girls reported they game in their free time, which is a 9% increase compared to last year’s statistics. The Insights People’s Chief Executive Officer, Nick Richardson, reflected on these results, stating,

Not only are the gender results revealed by this survey very striking, what’s clear is that the very idea of online gaming needs to be thought about differently. There’s a clear difference between what boys are into, such as Fortnite and Call of Duty, and what girls are doing online, which is much more about collaboration and co-creation.

This finding aligns with other studies that have also found that women play more non-competitive games than men. However, it’s important to note this doesn’t mean women do not enjoy competitive online as much as men. It just means statistically it’s not the most popular genre among women. Keep in mind that one woman may express liking multiple game genres and another may exclusively play simulators, for example.

What do you make of these statistics? Let us know in the comments below.